I'm Going Back to the Start
by kennedy ann
Summary: The life of a marriage, from birth to death, told largely through flash backs as Quinn tries to recall what led to Rachel ending their 15 year partnership. Angsty, troubling, and realistic. Rated M for abusive themes and sexual content.
1. Come Up to Meet You

**Come Up to Meet You**

The dark lighting accentuates the circles under my eyes. How I can tell? The barmaid has a look of pity in her own every time she refills my glass. After the third I can no longer ignore it, and chose to look away every time her patronizing eyes come near me.

It takes a third of scotch before I can begin recall the last hour of my day.

"_Hey I'm home! How was your day?" Quinn asks. She is met by silence and an empty living room. Kicking off her pumps and dropping her bag, she goes in search for her wife._

"_Rachel…" she calls into the kitchen. A broken glass and an open refrigerator intercept her. Frustrated with the mess Quinn attempts to pick up the larger of the jagged pieces, tiptoeing her way around the smaller ones in search for the garbage can._

"_Rachel, why didn't you clean this up!" she calls out from the kitchen, once more met with unresponsiveness. _

_Put off by the unbearable silence, the blonde begins to hum her way around the kitchen, grabbing the broom out of the pantry closet, and the dustpan off the wall. _

"_Don't you worry, Hon. I'm taking care of it." She calls out, mostly to humor herself._

_Heading up the stairs to their master bedroom she's overcomes with dread. Somehow, she knows what she'll be walking into. Years of signs have led her up to this moment in time. However, this does nothing to prepare her for the sight of her wife, sitting on their bed, packed bags at her feet and tears running down her face._

"Fuck…"

There's next to no liquid in my glass and moisture forming at the crease in my eyes. I'm a mess from head to toe, in my wrinkled work attire. Attempting to smooth out a crease in my white blouse, I see the barmaid out of the corner of my eye pour me another fifth of scotch.

"Quinn, I'm here to talk if you need it. I mean… I don't know what's going on exactly… but if you need anything, I'm your girl."

I snort to myself and grace the woman with a slightly drunken smile.

"No you're not."

"Quinn, it's just a figure of speech-"

"No!"

Who does this bitch think she is?

"Who do you think you are?"

"I'm just saying, whatever you need…"

I watch the woman walk away, sneering just a bit longer for effect.

"Stupid bitch… thinks she's something… yeah… something…"

"_No. You're not leaving me. You can't be…" Quinn falls to her knees, too weak to continue standing._

"_No… no… no. No!" _

_Rachel just shakes her head from side to side, a steady stream of tears running down her face._

"_NO! I can't… no, Rachel. You can't just… please! Please just… stay! Please just… just… oh, God. No. I can't, I won't. I just won't let you." Quinn crawls her way over to Rachel's legs and buries her face into her wife lap, clutching onto her legs with every last bit of strength she has left._

"_I have to, Quinn. I'm-"_

"_NO!" Quinn shrieks. She paws at Rachel's face, whipping the tears away from her wife's' cheeks roughly._

"_You're making a mistake, Baby! You have to believe me… you can't just leave me! To death do us part! That's what you said!"_

"_I'm leaving tonight. You can't change my mind." Rachel looks away from her wife, unable to face the fear and confusion resting in the once loving and playful gaze of the woman she married._

"_Baby! Don't… don't throw us away! No one ever said this would be easy! But you can't just… You just can't…" Quinn, gasping for breath reaches up, begging to see the love she once saw radiate from her spouse's eyes._

I dip my finger into my scotch glass and swirl around the smooth liquor, lost in the memory of those pain filled eyes.

How could things get so… lost? I take my finger in my mouth, suck the substance off of the digit, and ponder my question. I love her so much… what did I miss?

I down the last bit left in my glass and pull out a few twenties to pay my tab. Fuck this place, fuck that barmaid.

Once I manage to get my coat back on and my shirt reasonably tucked in I stumble to the exit of Iggy's Bar and brace myself for fall in New York City. Its late enough that the foot traffic has slowed down, allowing me to stumble my way back to our apartment in the upper east-side.

Our apartment. Right, I guess it's just my apartment now, even though her name is still on the lease. Guess I'll call the lawyer tomorrow…

I wrap my coat closer to my body, attempting to block off the wind sending shivers down my spine. Everything is pretty fuzzy, but I can make out the sign for 76th street and am soon climbing the stairs to the second floor.

As soon as the door swings shut behind me I feel my walls come tumbling down again. I fight to wipe the tears streaming down my face and neck but more just seem to replace them and eventually just let them go. It feels as though the floor is shaking with every step I take. A drunken sob makes its way up my throat but I swallow it back down as best I can. To me, it sounds like a dog being shot.

I paw at the loose tie around my neck, briefly recognizing it as the one LeRoy gave to me after I received my first promotion at work.

As I make my way up the stairs, I briefly stop and pull off articles of clothing, being careful to bump into as little as possible.

I've made my way up the stairs and into the hallway by the time I'm pulling off my slacks. I can see the remains of the vase I shattered as she walked out on me.

"_Quinn, I simply can't handle this anymore. I AM leaving, you're NOT going to stop me, and PLEASE get out of my way." Rachel attempts to pry her wife's hands off her waist as she gathers up her bags. She's almost through the hallway when she hears Quinn grab something off the coffee table and throw in at the wall next to her. The vase shatters in slow motion, it seems, pieces of porcelain falling to the ground at Rachel's feet. _

_The look on Quinn's face goes from agony to shock._

"_Baby… no, baby I didn't mean to…"_

_Rachel backs away from the blonde with fear etched in her face. Quickly grabbing her bags once more she takes off down the stairs and to the front door of their home of seven years._

"_I'm not letting you leave! You can't leave me!" Quinn yells after her. The blonde throws herself at the opening door and slams it shut, pinning Rachel underneath her. _

"_YOU CAN'T FUCKING LEAVE!" She screams. Spit flecks cover Rachel's closed eyes and a look of terror overcomes her features. The brunette brings her arms between them and pushes Quinn away, to no avail._

"_You married me, Bitch! You've got to deal with it!"_

"_No, Quinn! I don't, and I can't, and I won't! I'm fucking done with you! Now, let me go!" Rachel screams, slapping at the blondes face for what seems like the millionth time._

_Stunned by the blow, Quinn stumbles back to clear her head, bracing herself on the table by the entrance wall. _

"_Go."_

I stumble down the hallway, carefully avoiding the broken vase and slam the bedroom door closed once I'm inside. I strip myself of my underwear and attempt to wipe the snot hanging from my nose off on my shoulder. The bathroom light is on, and in my drunken void, I feel it's a sign. Is there someone in there, waiting for me? Could it be my beautiful wife? Is she home yet? Maybe she is taking a long hot shower and is waiting for me to join her…

I catch sight of my reflection in the mirror, and blame the monster I see on the alcohol. Turning on the shower to a scalding hot temperature, I begin to hum our song, hoping it will lure Rachel into the shower with me, as it has countless times before.

By the time the water has burned my face red, the small shower is steamed up really thick. I can barely see my hand in front of me, but can hear my wife singing our song softly from the bedroom. I can catch a few versus here and there, and add a soft harmony to her perfect pitch.

"Chasing our tails… coming back as we a-are."

I fumble with the bar of organic lavender soap in my hands as she continues on.

"Come in the shower, Baby. It's so… um… steamy in here…" I yell out to her.

I finally get the soap to stabilize in my hands and begin to stud my body up, washing away the snot, and tears, and stress of the day. I wrap my arms around my body, and roll my head to the side, letting the water wash away my troubles before I turn off the water. It takes me a minute, but eventually I get both the hot and the cold water shut off. The singing seems to have stopped, but I assume that Rachel has dosed off waiting for me.

Once I'm dry I make my way out to the bedroom, narrowly missing the doorway.

"Baby… I think I'm drunk…" I mumble, crawling my way to the top of our bed.

"Can you hold me tonight?"

"Baby?"

"Rachel…"

She's not there. She's… I don't know where she went… and I don't know what to do.

So I sleep. She'll be back home tomorrow. My baby would never leave me…


	2. Tell You I'm Sorry

**Tell You I'm Sorry**

"So Mrs. Fabrey, what brings you to me this afternoon?" Dr. Liz McCaffey asks me. Just her tone of voice makes me hate her already. She seems… hoity-toity. Is that even a real word?

"Mrs. Fabrey?"

"Call me, Quinn." I scoff out loud. Am I being petulant? Maybe… but I really don't want to be here right now.

"Okay, Quinn. You were very vague with my receptionist on why you wish to start seeing me, so if you could maybe enlighten me on some of your troubles?"

Every word that comes out of this woman's mouth sounds prodding.

"My wife left me, and I have no idea why." I manage to get out. I sound pathetic, even though I was going for cold and emotionless. I guess when it comes to Rachel I've never been able to hold that front up really long.

"Really? She just… up and left you for no reason? That seems… odd, don't you think?"

See? Prodding. I already dislike this experience.

"No, there was a reason, I'm sure of it. I just don't know what it is. It's me, something to do with me. I just can't…"

Great! I've already opened up more to this bitch then I wanted to. What the fuck is wrong with me?

"You just can't, what?" Liz takes off her glasses and cleans the lenses one at a time. I guess shrinks really are that stereotypical…

"It's really complicated. Things with my wife have always been… well intense. Even back in high school. Well… especially in high school."

She's analyzing me…

Her stare is so… clinical and really hard to read.

"Well we can do this one of two ways, Quinn. Either you can just start talking about whatever you wish, or we can start somewhere in your life and work our way to the night she left you. Either way, I'm sure we can piece together exactly why your wife left you."

I give her a measured stare. I'm 34 and my first instinct is to be petulant. What the hell?

"Okay, well. I'll take you back to the beginning. Back to the start."

"_Hey, Man Hands. I can't believe you had the guts to show up today… I thought you'd be homeschooled for sure after last year." Quinn hissed behind the short brunnette's ear, effectively making her drop her books in fear._

"_I'll have you know Quinn, that all though I do feel my dad's are perfectly capable of teaching me everything I could ever learn within these four walls, I would much rather have the true 'high school' experience so that when I am a star I will have plenty of high school antic dotes about how I was bullied by my home towns' own local strippers."_

"_Oh no, Bitch. You did not just open up your hobbit mouth."_

"_Yes, Santana I did. And unlike you it was not to ingest someone else's sp-"_

"_Listen treasure trail, this is sophomore year and this is my school. You even think about stepping all over my territory or even so much as glace at my boyfriend and I will make sure you receive a slushy facial every time you open your abnormally large mouth." Quinn had effectively pushed the smaller girl up against her locker, flattening her body against her so she couldn't move. Rachel could smell a hint of cinnamon on her breath and wondered briefly if it was from her toothpaste or a stick of Big Red gum. _

"_As much as I am truly loving this homoerotic behavior you're displaying towards me, I have to get to glee. Unless of course you were hoping to take me home and do nasty, dirty things to me..."_

"_Ew! You're gross, Rue Paul!" __Quinn seethed, backing away from the smiling brunette. _

_Rachel slowly slid her tongue over her top teeth for dramatic effect._

"_I'll make your life hell, Dwarf." Santana yelled as the unholy trinity walked off to cheer practice. Rachel tucked in her shirt and flattened her skirt, a bit flustered from her encounter with the cheerleaders. Once she pulled herself together, she checked herself in the mirror hanging on the inside of her locker, smiled her million dollar contract smile and grabbed her sheet music. _

"So, you bullied her in sophomore year?"

Really? I just get done explaining to you our first encounter I can remember and you ask the most obvious question ever? You really are brilliant, Doctor…

"Yes. And some of junior year. Actually I was kind of a bitch to her during senior year too, but I mellowed out a bit sometime during the middle."

"Can you tell me when exactly during senior year did you stop torturing her?"

Another stupid question. How the hell am I suppose to remember something like that? I hated Lima. I hated McKinley. Hell, I hated myself.

"I think it was right around the time my best friends came out to the school."

_Quinn placed her physics book back in her locker and shut the door._

"_So, Satin and Brit, Huh?" she heard behind her. She knew it was Rachel right away, her obnoxious tone easily recognizable. _

"_Don't even pretend you didn't know…" Quinn said, rolling her eyes and turning in the brunette's direction._

"_Really, Quinn? Even my Dad's know and they have only spent a few minutes each with them. How are you coping with the physical displays of affection? I would think a God fearing Christian like yourself wouldn't be able to handle such open displays of abomination." Rachel said in a playful voice. By this time they were both walking to the school parking lot, shoulders bumping occasionally._

"_I will have you know, that I have never had a problem with those two and have put up with their behavior since freshman year. I must admit I had a tiny freak out before sophomore year, but that's only 'cause I walked in on them… doing it." Quinn admitted with a very dark blush creeping up her neck._

_Rachel reaches her arm through the blondes and glues her to her side. _

"_I'm pretty sure even someone as secure in their sexuality as myself would have had a small freak-out. I can't even imagine what those two do behind closed doors."_

"_Rachel! What give you the impression I wasn't secure in my sexuality!" Quinn teasingly scoffs. This causes the two of them to giggle back and forth. _

"_Well this is my stop," Rachel says, pulling her arm away from the blondes and giving a small shy, smile._

"_Yeah… I guess I'll see you around, Rachel."_

"Well, giving the fact you end up pursuing her and marrying her… that conversation seems kind of ironic."

I humor my shrink for a minute. She's doing pretty well at stating the obvious. Maybe that's all there is too this psychology business. Ask stupid questions. Check! Make stupid observations. Check! I think I got into the wrong line of work…

"Quinn, I'm going to ask a few more questions this session, is that okay?"

No. I'm not paying you large sums of money to ask me questions. I want answers woman!

"Sure…"

"When was your next significant moment together?"

Oh god, she's cleaning her glasses again. So fucking cheesy…

"Well, I guess that would be nationals that year…"

"_**And the winner of our National Show Choir Competition for 2012 is…"**_

_The sound of the drum-role is coursing through the air. It's come down to the last two groups and for the first time, McKinley High is one of them and the air flowing around them is charged and thick with longing._

"_**Vocal Adrenaline! Which leaves runner-up to The New Directions!"**_

_The stage comes alive with energy, bodies being thrown at each other with tears of joy seeping from their eyes. Everyone seems too caught up in their own celebrations to see the look of sorrow in Rachel's eyes. All but a certain blonde, that is._

"_Come on, let's get you out of here," Quinn whispered into the brunettes ear, tangling their fingers together and ushering the small girl off the stage._

_It takes them two minutes to make it off the stage, Quinn shooting everyone in their way her signature icy cold glare. Another two and they are waiting for the elevator, Rachel now clutching onto the blondes arm with all her strength. After a minute wait they make their way up to the seventh floor and Rachel barely keeps in together long enough for Quinn to get her key in the door. As soon and the door shuts behind them a loud painful sound is belted out from the brunette as she collapses into Quinn. _

"_Honey, it's okay. We took second, that's so much better than last year right?" Quinn softly says to the sobbing mess in her arms. She carefully moves her over to the nearest bed and coaxes her teammate to lie down. Sitting next to the crying girl she gently strokes her hair back from her face and positions herself behind her, holding her from behind and fitting into the curvature of her body._

"_You are the brightest star, hell, the brightest thing I have ever seen in my life. You are going to make it on Broadway, just like you made it into NYADA and you made it here. Don't think for a second that taking second is a bad thing. 'Cause remember, you had my ass bringing you down up there and I'm pretty sure I was a bit flat on that last song." Quinn says with a smile. This does nothing to calm the girl wrapped in her arms. A good twenty minutes goes by before she hears nothing other than a sob come from the petite girl._

"_Quinn… tell me a secret… um… nothing stupid. Tell me something no one else knows about you. I want something to connect us besides High School Glee Club. You know? I wanna know who you really are."_

_Quinn lets silence overcome them for a few minutes, giving the brunette in front of her time to calm down._

"_Well, I've yet to come out to anyone yet. I was going to wait for graduation to tell everyone, but it can be our little secret for now."_

_Rachel pulls the arm around her tighter and snuggles in deeper, causing Quinn to blush deeply._

"_Go on…" Rachel encourages._

"_Okay, Rachel. I am gay."_

_Quinn is met by silence. Rachel turns herself around in her arms so she's facing her, nose to nose._

"_I know. I think I am too."_

_"And i'm sorry, Rachel. For everything."_

I find myself engrossed in the face of a tower clock behind Dr. McCaffey.

"So… what happened after that?"

Nothing. Everything. I'm pretty sure that's the day I recognized all the feelings I had up to that point were precursors for love. That everything about our relationship changed that night. We couldn't hold hands without blushing. We could look each other in the eyes without looking away and smiling. I couldn't hear her sing without feeling like I was on top of the world.

"Nothing. We just laid there looking into each other's eyes for the rest of the night. The girls must have come in after we dosed off that night."

"No, not what happened then, how did that change your relationship?"

Really? How do you think it changed it?

"We distanced ourselves from each other. I don't think either of us were ready for the world to know what we knew about each other. And we weren't ready to share with the other what we were figuring out ourselves."

"Which was…?"

I look down and see that I've picked my thumb cuticle raw already and place my hands under my legs.

"That we were falling for each other."


	3. You Don't Know How Lovely You Are

**You Don't Know How Lovely You Are**

"So, any word from Rachel since we last spoke?"

I play the last week in my head, the countless hours I spent on the phone, begging her voice mail to take me back. The songs I sung to her memory in a drunken stupor, and the threats I screamed to an empty bedroom.

"No, not a peep."

"Well, I think it would be wise to start today where we last left off. How did your relationship change after the night you told her you were a lesbian?"

I have to give it some thought, because I honestly have a hard time remembering how things were before we moved to New York City.

"They were… intense. We still weren't friends, but we were no longer enemies. It got a whole lot easier after Rachel broke off her engagement with her high school sweetheart, Finn Hudson."

"_Rachel, I just don't understand why we can't just postpone the wedding. Why break off the engagement at all if we are just going to get married someday anyways?"_

_Rachel couldn't face the look on her boyfriends face. He seemed so lost, so… confused. But she was the one who was truly lost, and extremely confused._

"_Finn, do you have any idea what it's like to become something you're not, just to prove people wrong?"_

_The boy looked at her curiously, unable to find the origin in her thought process._

"_Like, if the first day you came to high school and everyone teased you for being a drunk because you mom is a drunk, which I know Carol is not, just humor me. So your moms a drunk and everyday at school all the popular kids call you an alcoholic, and a slob, and maybe even an abomination… wouldn't you do everything you can in your power to not drink alcohol? To prove all those self-loathing people that you're not just like your mother, that they are wrong and just because you mother was born a certain way, doesn't mean you are too? How would you feel?" Rachel begged the boy to answer her._

"_Rachel, I don't think I'm following you too well. Why is my mother an alcoholic now?"_

"_Finn! I'm gay!"_

_Rachel's met with silence as Finn slowly tries to piece the puzzle together._

"_I'm gay, Finn. Just like my dad's. I don't know if it's genetic, or nurtured, or I don't know just a coincidence but god I have fought with it for so many years, and poured countless hours into being someone I'm not that I almost married you! I almost married you, and I don't even like you as more than just a friend. I gave up my virginity to you to fight this. I almost fooled myself into thinking I could do this; that you weren't too bad of a guy and maybe all these… sexual desires I have will one day be for you, and not other girls. I'm sorry, Finn. I'm sorry that I dragged you so far into this charade of mine. You deserve so much better, and I deserve to be myself for once. I'm going to New York, Finn. And I really don't want you to follow me." Rachel placed her engagement ring in the boys hand and left the room. _

"How did their break up sit with you?"

I scoff to myself, playing with my wedding band out of habit.

"I was ecstatic. And heartbroken. I really took it out on myself, you know? I was the one who drove her so far into the closet she almost married Frankenteen. They were my hurtful words that made her feel like an alien. All because I was going though the same, exact, thing. I hid my feeling for her by targeting her. And she repressed hers for me by obsessing over everything with two legs and a penis who would give her the light of day. A part of me thinks that the person she was in all those relationships was her subconscious leaking out, trying to sabotage her plan of denial. She was never so obsessive, and needy, and demanding with me. We fit so naturally, where as all those boys had to make room for her. What was your question again?"

"You answered it just fine, Quinn. I have down here that you said you were planning on, 'coming out' at your high school graduation. Did everything go as planned there?"

"Well, not exactly…"

"_Hey Quinn! Grab me another beer from the fridge, this Jew's gotta liquor up now that he's a big high school graduate!" Quinn did as she was told, making her way through the small, crowded kitchen and back with two bottlenecks._

"_Cheers, to the end of the world! 2012, baby!" Puck yelled to the crowd, chinking glasses with everyone he passed on his way out. _

_Quinn, trying to avoid most of the people at Puck's graduation party, decided to duck out and wander her way outside his mom's backyard._

_Nursing her beer, she shut the door behind her and took a seat next to the last person she'd expect to attend one of these functions._

"_What's in the cup, amigo?" Quinn asked good-naturedly._

"_Um… some of that punch crap Noah made earlier. It's only my second cup, I promise."_

"_It smells like the Caribbean."_

"_Well it's better than smelling like salty beer, Quinn." Rachel scoffed._

"_You wish you smelled like my salty beer, Miss Berry." The blonde joked back, bumping her shoulder into the other girls for dramatic effect._

"_Why are you out here?" Rachel asked out of the blue._

_Quinn gave it a good thought, taking time to swallow a long pull off her bottle._

"_Probably the same reason you are."_

"_Oh, and what reason might that be?" Rachel asked indignantly._

"_Inside there, we are both expected to laugh and giggle whenever a cute boy says something stupid. They want to see us get drunk and have clothing malfunctions and trip all over ourselves. They want us to grind and dance all over each other, just to gain their attention and approval. I happen to know apart from Santana and maybe Brit on a good day, we are the only ones here who want no part of it."_

_After a few moments Rachel sighs and rests her head on the blondes shoulder._

"_I would love to dance just once with a girl, and only have to focus on her. No Finn to make jealous, nothing to prove…"_

"_Well, we can always dance out here? I can still hear the beat pretty good…" Quinn asks hesitantly._

"_I… would really like that." _

_The two girls put down there drinks and linked hands moving further out into the back yard and under a blank of stars in the summer nights sky._

_Quinn slowly circled around the smaller girl, as if stalking her pry, then grabbed her hip gently with her free hand and brought their bodies together. Slowly swaying in a controlled pulse back and forth to the beat, Quinn coaxes Rachel to relax enough and give in to the music. As they continue dancing, Rachel's hands make their way onto Quinn's lower back, then up her sides to her neck, and eventually end up tangled in her shoulder length hair, Quinn's nose gently resting in the crux of her neck._

"_This is nice…" Rachel whispers, mostly to herself. Her words cause Quinn to pull her impossibly close, eliminating any space left between them, and filling it with intimacy. Nuzzling inside Rachel's collar bone, Quinn slows down their sexual grinding to half speed, turning the atmosphere into a sensual one. _

"_Hey guys!" they both heard come from the now open patio door. Everyone in the house filtered out, following a very drunk and stumbling Finn Hudson._

"_Oh, fuck. I'm so sorry for whatever may happen next." Rachel franticly whispered to the blonde, taking her hand and holding on tightly in hope it will soften the blow._

"_It's okay, Rach." Quinn tries to sooth, rubbing her hand down the small girls back._

"_Hey everybody! Now that you're all here I have an announcement to make!"_

"_Finn, please. Your drunk-"_

"_Shut up Rachel, you don't get to shush me anymore. Remember? Oh yeah, like I was saying BEFORE… everyone! Rachel… is… a dyke! Yeah! Who knew right?"_

_The crowd rang out with a few cat calls and shouts._

"_Well apparently Quinn knew! Did you really know, Quinn? Have you known all along that she'd end up leaving me for women? Huh?"_

_Quinn wrapped her arms protectively around the brunette, to try and protect her from Finn's words._

"_No, I only found out when you did. But to answer your question, Finnept, I did however, always know she'd leave YOU because you're a pathetic loser who has done nothing but hold her back." _

"_You're a stupid dyke too aren't you?" Finn yelled, his beer sloshing around in his cup as he staggered further into the yard. Quinn felt Rachel's grip tighten on her hands and felt her press more surely into her back._

"_Don't you dare, Finn." Rachel yelled from behind the blonde. _

"_You have no right to say things like that!"_

"_Don't worry, Rachel. Finn's just a bit butt-sore because the only three girls in all of McKinley High who would give him the time of date are both raging lesbians! He's even less of a man then the whole school already thought he was."_

_The crowed sniggered at Quinn's statement and shouted a few choice obscenities mostly at the giant in front of them._

"_Come on Rach, I'll take you home."_

I can tell my hour is coming to a close. The leather chair I'm sitting on feels too stiff. The office smells too strongly of potpourri. Everything in my nervous system is screaming to get out of here and get some much need fresh air.

"So her ex outed you, both of you in front of your whole graduating class. That must have been, trying…"

Really? This is getting so tiresome.

"Yes."

"Well, that a pretty big experience to go through together, don't you think?"

"Obviously."

I need to get out of here.

"Hey, can we cut today short, I know we still have like, seven more minutes or something but I have to pick up my dry cleaning and I cannot be late for my conference call in an hour."

"No problem, Quinn. What is it that you do, exactly?"

"I'm an editor at Little Brown Publishers." I answer shortly, seeing as I have no wish to turn this into a conversation.

"Oh! Well that magnificent!"

"Yes, thank you. Same time next week, I assume?"

"Yes, and be ready to talk about the summer leading up to college, okay? Have a great rest of your week, Quinn."

Yeah, fuck you.

"Yeah, you too."


End file.
